Wa - Brew-on-premises - All/partial Grain

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Groover1964

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As an enthusiastic beer consumer I've tried a few home brews and u-brew-it type "Brew on Premises".

Although the results are probably better than industrial, euro-swill they don't come close to craft and micro-brews I've tasted.

My wife has recently developed a very expensive Chimay Blue habit, and I need to find a cheaper way of getting something similar rather than $180 a case.

My ideal situation would be a Perth/WA brew-on-premises that did AG or partial grain and extract and would help me try and get close to a dark Belgian Trappist Ale.

The u-brew-it guys (I've seen) seem like hard working small business owners but they aren't brewing enthusiasts - they stick to the recipes.

I'd even try an all extract recipe but I can only find the Belgian Golden Ales & Trippels (Duvel clones etc.)

I was going to try brew-in-a-bag but this is probably beyond my skill level.

Any ideas?

Cheers

Groover
 
Hey and welcome to the board Groover. Afraid I can't assist with your question though - the brew on premises places I've been to (Malaga and Belmont) are extract only and I'm not aware of any AG brew on premises places though would be interested to know if they existed. Have you tried phoning around? Even the extract only places may have something similar (though I doubt it).

This AG caper is pretty easy to get the hang of and I'm sure someone here would have made the beer you're after at some stage and could probably assist with a recipe - try this thread or maybe this one.
 
Hey Groover1964 and wlecome - its always good to se more people from the left bank. As habits go, your wife has a pretty good one - there's not a lot wrong with Chimay (other than the cost).

While it is worth ringing aroung, I don't think you will have much joy with the u-brew-it type places for AG. As WW says though; AG can be pretty easy to do, even if you don't have all the gear you would ultimately like to have. With limited equipment, BIAB is a good place to start as well as the bucket-in-bucket method of mashing. There are only really a few basics that you need to get your head around and you will be off. Come to a West Coast Brewers meeting, or invite yourself to a brew day - you'll learn enough at either of those to get you on the slippery slope. Good luck !

Oh, and have a read through this http://www.howtobrew.com/intro.html
 
Welcome Groover. For what you are spending on a single case, you could buy all you need for stove-top partials. Go on, you know you want to.
 
Welcome Groover. For what you are spending on a single case, you could buy all you need for stove-top partials. Go on, you know you want to.

Thanks guys for all the responses, I know I should probably bite the bullet and start doing it properly but I guess my first choice was to see if at least one of the brew on premises had a slightly more "hands on" approach to brewing rather than just a cheap way to clone Coronas.

I must admit my reluctance to starting doing it myself revolves around:

(1) I don't drink THAT much beer, I love a good Pale Ale on a summers afternoon or a Westlevern 12 after a great meal - and storing the kit etc. between brews would be a pain
(2) The clean-up is not a huge issue, but seeing all those kettles and industrial steam cleaners at the BOP places makes me think "how hard would it be for 1 owner to offer a partial grain setup maybe once or twice a month for enthusiasts"
(3) I am scared I'll turn $150 of ingredients into something cloudy, sour and life-threatening.

I was hoping that maybe there was one operator (or club) who could work with a BOP operator and could create hybrid evenings where people bring in some specialty grains and hops and then use those nice big kettles and lagering temperature rooms to create some great beer.

Are there any BOP places in Perth where they help modify recipes (ie are run by people who like beer?)
 
If you dont drink "that much beer", and dont have storage space you are probably better off just keeing on buying it and not worrying abotu the large about of ******* about required to brew it yourself
 
I think you will be out of luck to do a BOP Chimay clone. I do, however think you could hey close using extract at home and investing in the right yeast and Candi sugar. Give it a shot, get some temp control down and away you go. Plenty of folk here to help formulate a recipe.

Cheers - mike
 
If you dont drink "that much beer", and dont have storage space you are probably better off just keeing on buying it and not worrying abotu the large about of ******* about required to brew it yourself

lol @ honest response +1

I guess I was hoping for somewhere in between the effort required for a BOP clone-brew and growing a beard and turning the garage into a cross between an intensive care unit, a stainless steel fabricators work yard and a meth lab.
 
I guess I was hoping for somewhere in between the effort required for a BOP clone-brew and growing a beard and turning the garage into a cross between an intensive care unit, a stainless steel fabricators work yard and a meth lab.
It's Ok, you don't have to grow the beard... All the rest will come with time, and just when you think you have enough gear, some one else on AHB will out do your expectations and you will have to one up them.
 
lol @ honest response +1

I guess I was hoping for somewhere in between the effort required for a BOP clone-brew and growing a beard and turning the garage into a cross between an intensive care unit, a stainless steel fabricators work yard and a meth lab.


Brewing is rewarding and I don't have a beard or an IC unit.
If you're willing to try an extract brew as you mentioned, you could get a few pointers here. Ingredients won't be anything close to $150 and it's easy enough to avoid sour results.

You won't get a replica of Chimay (it's one of the world's best beers for a reason) but you might get something close-ish if you're careful.

1. First and foremost you'll need the right yeast which is generally considered to be WY1214. There is a whitelabs equivalent but I don't use whitelabs so I'm not sure what it is.

2. Hop mildly with noble hops to bitter to around 25-30 IBU

3. Watch the ferment temps as I've found 1214 to give a lot of banana esters at higher temps (despite suggestions that higher temps bring out good esters, I reckon 18-20 is better)

4. Use a pale malt extract, a touch of dried wheat extract and steep some special b grain.

5. Buy some dark Belgian Candi syrup. You can make your own and I'm currently experimenting to see if the bought stuff is better than the homemade as it's pricy but it looks like you're not into experimenting too much at this point. For 20 -23 litres I'd use between 500 and 700g.

Really you can do all the above with a stockpot, spoon and a colander. The ferment can be done in a fermenter (no shit) which will also need a couple of cheap accessories and some sanitation and cleaning products. Bottles and a capper and you're away. I'd warrant you could get a brew set up for the same price as the next case (although you will need a case for comparison - mmmmmmmm chimay).
 
Brewing is rewarding and I don't have a beard or an IC unit.....
I'd warrant you could get a brew set up for the same price as the next case (although you will need a case for comparison - mmmmmmmm chimay).

I'm inspired.

I'll do a quick inventory of the bits and pieces I've got and see if I can get the rest from (http://www.gryphonbrewing.com.au).

My biggest dilemma (from my quick scan of the BIAB PDF) is keeping the stuff at around 20c during a Perth summer - any suggestions?
 
I don't have temp control. My brews (I often have four or 5 going at once) sit in various vessels of water with wet towels wrapped around them. Frozen juice/vinegar bottles (2 or so at a time) are routinely placed in the water (usually first thing in the morning). I don't trust the stick on thermometer and after a good soaking they give out but I can measure the temp of the brew with a thermometer when I take a hydrometer sample. I live in Melbourne but our summers get nasty too.

Some people who live in QLD use dead fridges with a couple of frozen PET/Juice type bottles rotated regularly. Another option is a plastic rubbish bin or a large esky using the same system.

Forgot to include - you will need a hydrometer - get one that goes to 1.100 if you're wanting to make high gravity ales.
 
Where are you getting the Westy from?

Got mates in UK who do a France / Belgium / Netherlands run twice a year. I always give them a place to stay in Australia when it's cold and snowy over there, they don't mind queuing up at a monastery once a year for me.
 
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